BY: GIDEON C. CORGUE
PAGADIAN CITY – A tsunami survivor thanked the government for conducting disaster preparedness training in the barangays here to lessen the adverse impacts of disasters on the populace.
During the 38th commemoration of Moro Gulf Tsunami last Aug. 17, tsunami survivor Zacharias Espadilla said the disaster training would help the people prepare for any emergencies.
“Nagpasalamat ko sa kagamhananan nga naghimo ug disaster preparedness training tungod kay pinaagi niini ang mga tawo makabalo kung unsay angay buhaton panahon nga ang kalatagman moabot ug makabalo usab sila kung asa nga dapit sila moadto aron malikayan ang dakong kadaut,” Espadilla said.
(I thanked the government for conducting disaster preparedness training because through this, people would know what to do when disaster strikes and they would also know where to go to protect themselves from great destruction.)
Espadilla recounted that he lost his wife and four children to the earthquake-induced tsunami that occurred in the midnight of Aug. 17, 1976.
“Kung nakabalo lang unta ang mga tawo kung asa modagan palayo sa higante nga balod, wala untay liboan ka mga tawo ang mamatay ug unta ang akong pamilya dili usab mamatay,” he said.
(If the people know where to run and escape from the giant waves, my family and thousand others would be spared.)
The tsunami had left 1,400 dead, 7,100 seriously injured and more than a thousand missing.
Mayor Romeo Pulmones said “the great destruction of lives in the 1976 Moro Gulf earthquake and tsunami could have been avoided should the people know about disaster preparedness.”
Pulmones said the city government has intensified its efforts at conducting disaster preparedness training to prepare the public for natural disasters. “The disaster can strike anywhere, to anyone and anytime,” he added.
“I have ordered the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) to conduct a series of earthquake and tsunami drills in barangays and public elementary and secondary schools especially during the National Disaster Consciousness month to equip the public with a better and improved knowledge on disaster preparedness,” Pulmones announced.
The mayor also bared that earthquake and disaster drills were already conducted in Sta. Lucia National High School, San Pedro National High School and Zamboanga del Sur School of Arts and Trades, all situated along coastal barangays of the city.
The city government has also passed an ordinance mandating the employees, barangay officials and residents to commemorate August 17 every year and thereafter as earthquake and tsunami day for the public to remember that fateful day in the history of Pagadian.
